Harry G. Collison
Harry |
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| Harry in basket |
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Guardian Angel |
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Alexis Angel Alexis Angel is named after Harry's wife Diane's granddaughter who is very special. Alexis Angel was made in 1982 with serial number 097 N10623 and is an A55 with parachute top. It was flown primarily in Michigan and the picture was taken in Albuquerque. The previous owner was Charles Polonski. |
| Harry is a commercial balloon pilot who currently resides in Mays Landing, New Jersey. He was born in Camden, New Jersey on the 17th of September 1960. He has lived in Deptford, New Jersey, Washington Twp, New Jersey, and Atlantic City, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Washington Twp High School year of 1978. He was employed by the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort for 26 Years. He has undergone a change in his life and is now employed as project Manager at Greenbaum Design/Builder. |
| Harry got into ballooning when his company sponsored four balloons to inflate on the beach in front of the Casino. He met a pilot named Richard Powell who was looking for crew and helped out. It was then that he got his first ballooning experience and to use his own words (As so many Adams Family pilots have said) "I was hooked". From there Richard Powell of Scranton, Pennsylvania became his Instructor Pilot and eventually sold him his balloon which was used on the beach. It is a 1986 A55S Adams (One of the last made) with a parachute top. He earned his private pilot license on July 9th, 1995. His commercial pilot license came on the 26th of April 1997. Harry recently purchased Alexis Angel from Charles Polonski. When harry bought the balloon it in 2004 , it had only 162 hours. |
| Harry has flown in "Lots of rallies and says if he listed the names they would fill an entire page. Suffice to say he has flown in Gatineau, Canada, The Big One in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Maine, New York including Long Island, Florida, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont, and Massachessets. |
| Public relations are Harry's forte. He is active with school children and special children, giving free rides to them whenever possible. He is a member of the Great Eastern Balloon Association (GEBA) and the Balloon Federation of America (BFA). He is currently giving private pilot lessons to his wife, Diane. |
| Harry and his past instructor took a balloon to the Florida Keys. They tethered on one of the Keys called Islamorada. What made this special was that it was done in coordination with the Boy Scouts of America at their camp called "The Florida High Adventure Sea Base". Harry gave the National Director of the BSA a ride to see one of Florida's beautiful sunsets from a balloon. Harry relates, "It was great watching the faces of the Scouts as we inflated the balloon. They use the wind to sail the seas and we use the wind to sail the skies". "To see their reaction was very fulfilling", he added. |
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Guardian Angel with the Deptford Police Department and Crew |
| On July 24th, 2004 at the New Jersey Festival of Ballooning, while ascending into the air at 500 fpm, Harry got down on one knee and proposed to his wife, Diane. Of course, she said "YES". After the landing and pack up, but during the champagne toast, he got down on one knee again and put the ring on her finger. He chose this date beacuse it was their four-year anniversary of their first flight together. The wedding date was April 16th, 2005. Harry has also performed two weddings in his balloon and says, "I felt better than they did!" |
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| Harry and Diane. |
| He also survived a balloonist's worst nightmare...mountains and trees. He flew the Delaware Water Gap and ended his flight on a mountain full of trees. He relates "everything worked out OK", but listen to this: It took him two hours to walk out in the dark and three hours the next morning to retrieve the balloon from the unforgiving mountain. This was accomplished only by cutting a path through the trees for the retrieval. Harry, if they were giving prizes for harrowing experiences, I'll bet my money on your experience. Through it all, Harry says, "Love my Adams". |
| Harry's crew include: |
| Diane Collison, Student/Co-Pilot | Joe Settelen |
Barb Settelen |
| Bettencourt Family | Karen Robertson | Bert Giorio |
| Santa | Mrs. Claus | Bob Keeny |
| John Smith, WX Briefer FAA | Ben Force | Heather Force |
| Bob Large | Grace Large |
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Harry and his crew |
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| Guardian Angel |
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| Santa's Check Flight with Guardian Angel" |
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| New chase trailer donated by Home Depot. Thank You! |
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Guardian Angel goes first class all the way with this new chase vehicle! |
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| Harry plays with the big boys @ Law Enforcement Day at Rowan College in Glassboro, NJ. |
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Guardian Angel takes any opportunity to tether for special children and this one (Alexis) means more to Harry. She is the granddaughter of Harry's wife Diane. |
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| Harry's personal data include: |
| Aeronautical Licenses: Private Balloon Pilot and Commercial Balloon Pilot (Required for paid rides.) |
| Day Job: Project Manager, Greenbaum Design/Builder. |
| Hobbies: Hot Air Ballooning, Reading Books, Gardening and taking care of my boys (cats). |
| Motto: Love the smell of propane in the morning. Work hard and fly!. |
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| You may contact Harry with any ballooning question at: |
 e-mail
address: Firstandfinest98@aol.com |
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Copyright� 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002. Except for educational entities, no reproduction without written permission of The Adams Family Hot Air Balloon Teams is allowed.